Health Commissioner: Deaths expected from swine flu in U.S. (UPDATE)

Texas is aggressively targeting swine flu with the expectation that there will be deaths reported from the disease “at some point” in the United States, the state health commissioner said today.

Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Department of State Health Services, told the House Public Health Committee that only one person with a confirmed case of swine flu had been reported as hospitalized, but he said, “That really is not reassuring to me at this time. The picture is quite different in Mexico” where deaths have been reported.

“We expect that as we look, we will find more patients that are hospitalized and we expect that at some point we will see deaths,” Lakey said.

Seasonal influenza alone kills about 36,000 people in the United States every year, and about 3,500 in Texas – mostly people who are elderly, young and with compromised immune systems, he said.

He noted there were six confirmed cases of swine flu in Texas, and he said there are an additional 21 people who could have swine flu.

“We have been aggressive in our response” to the swine flu, Lakey said, noting action including school closings. “Basically, we’re treating this as a pandemic at this time in the state of Texas.”

Texas is in better shape than many other states because the Legislature two years ago set aside $10 million for antiviral medicine, Lakey said. That investment allowed Texas to have 840,000 courses of antiviral treatment, and it will get another 850,000 through the federal government, he said.

Lakey noted that such illnesses “can come in waves,” receding at this time of year and then returning in six months.

“We have to be prudent on how we use our resources such as antiviral medicine at this time,” Lakey said.

“We have to be careful how we use them,” he said. “We don’t want to burn through them and then be caught in the second wave and not have them here available.”

UPDATE: After Lakey’s testimony this morning, the Centers for Disease Control upped the number of swine flu cases, with more hospitalizations.